GRA31IXEA:. (GRASS FAMILY.) 565 



strongly 3-nerved , the upper hirsute-oil late. 1J. ?' (Poa pectinacea, Michx., ex char. 

 P. Virginica, Zucc.? P. hirsuta, Amer. auth., not of Michx. E. Uniouis & 

 cognata, Steud.?) Leaves long, rigid, mostly hairy, the sheaths especially so. 

 Var. SPECTABILIS. Leaves and sheaths mostly glabrous; branches of the 

 panicle (the lower reflexed with age) and pedicels mostly shorter; spikelets 

 rather larger. (E. spectabilis, ed. 1. Poa spectabilis, Pursh.) Sandy dry 

 ground, from E. Massachusetts southward near the coast, and from Ohio and 

 Illinois southward. Aug. - Oct. Plant l-3high. gpikelets l" -3" long, 

 about 1" wide, closely flowered. 



35. BRIZA, L. QUAKING GRASS. 



Spikelets many-flowered, ovate or heart-shaped, flattish-tumid ; the flowers 

 closely imbricated. Glumes roundish, unequal (purple). Lower palea round- 

 ish and entire, flattened parallel with the glumes, ventricosc on the back, heart- 

 shaped at the base, papery-membranaceous and becoming dry, scarious-mar- 

 gined, obscurely many-nerved; the upper palea very much smaller, ovate, flat. 

 Stamens 3. Stigmas branched-plumose. Grain flattened parallel with the paleaB, 

 adhering to the upper one. Leaves flat. Panicle loose, diffuse, with the large 

 and showy spikelets often drooping on delicate pedicels (whence the name, an 

 ancient Greek appellation for some kind of grain, from /3pi't&>, to slumber (Linn.), 

 or J3pi6a>, to bend downwards). 



1. B. MEDIA, L. Panicle erect, the branches spreading; spikelets 5-9- 

 flowered (3" long); glumes shorter than the lower flowers. 1J. Pastures; 

 sparingly in E. Massachusetts and in Penn. June. (Adv. from Eu.) 



B. MAXIMA, L., an annual with much larger and many-flowered spikes, is ' 

 occasionally cultivated for ornament. 



36. FESTIJCA, L FESCUE-GRASS. 



Spikelets 3 - many-flowered, panicled or racemose ; the flowers not webby at 

 the base. Glumes unequal, mostly keeled. Palese chartaceous or almost coria- 

 ceous, roundish (not keeled) on the back, more or less 3-5-nerved, acute, 

 pointed, or often bristle-awned, rarely blunt; the upper mostly adhering at 

 maturity to the enclosed grain. Stamens mostly 3. Flowers, and often the 

 leaves, rather dry and harsh. (An ancient Latin name.) 



% Flowers bristle-pointed or owned from the tip : panirh'. "acemose-contracted. 



1. F. tenella, Willd. Panicle spike-like, somewnat one-sided (2' -3 

 long) ; spikelets 1 -S-jlotoeredf awn of the involute-awl-shaped paiea slender; leaves 

 bristle-form. Dry sterile soil; not rare. July. Culms very slender, 

 6' -12' high. 



2. F. oviiia. (SHEEP'S FESCUE-GRASS.) Panicle narrow ; spikelets 2~ 

 6-flowcrcd ; awn much shorter titan the lanceolate palea, or almost wanting; leaves 

 convolute-filiform; culms 6'- 15' high, forming dense-rooted tufts, 1J. N. E. 

 New England, Lake Superior, and northward. Var. vi vf PARA (which with us 

 has running rootstocks), with the spikelets partially converted into leafy shoots, 

 is found on the alpine summits of the Wliii*' Mountains of New Hampshire, and 



high northward. (Eu.) 



48 



